the Lacedaemonians.  Pelopidas sent secretly to this man a merchant, a friend of his own, who gave him a bribe, and also made proposals which fascinated him more than the money, that he should attempt some enterprise on a great scale, and surprise Peiraeus by a sudden attack when the Athenians were off their guard:  for the Lacedaemonians would be better pleased with the capture of Athens than with anything else, and the Thebans would not assist them, for they were at variance with them and regarded them as traitors.  At length Sphodrias was prevailed upon to agree to this, and, with his soldiery, invaded Attica by night.  He got as far as Eleusis, but there the soldiers lost heart, and the attempt was detected.  So, having involved the Spartans in a war of no slight importance, he retired to Thespiae.

XV.  Upon this the Athenians again most eagerly allied themselves with the Thebans, and, aspiring to supremacy at sea, sent embassies round to the other maritime states, and brought over to their own side those who were willing to revolt from the Spartans.  Meanwhile the Thebans, alone in their country of Boeotia, constantly skirmishing with the Lacedaemonians, and not fighting any great battles with them, but organising themselves with the greatest care and discipline, began to pluck up spirit, gaining skill from practice, and becoming confident from the result of these encounters.  This was why they say that Antalkidas the Spartan, when King Agesilaus was being carried home wounded from Boeotia, said to him, “Indeed, you are receiving nice lessons from the Thebans, now that you have taught them how to fight against their will.”  But their real teacher was not Agesilaus, but those who, seizing fit opportunities, and with due management, skilfully used to let them loose upon their enemies, as men train young mastiffs, and then when they had tasted victory and self-confidence brought them safely back.  Of these leaders Pelopidas received the chief credit.  From the year in which he was first elected general they never ceased to re-elect him, and he was always either in command of the Sacred Band or most commonly acting as Boeotarch until his death.  There took place also about Plataea and Thespiae defeats and routs of the Lacedaemonians, in which Phoebidas, who seized the Kadmeia, perished; and Pelopidas routed a number of them near Tanagra, and slew Panthoides the governor.  Still, although these skirmishes raised the spirits and confidence of the victors, yet they did not cast down the pride of the vanquished; for they were not regular battles, but the Thebans won their successes by well-timed charges and harassing the enemy by alternate retreat and advance.